Foundling
by Sapphire1
Summary: 17 years ago on a cold night in Chicago Rose and Emmett find something they were not expecting – a human baby. AU
1. Chapter 1

Foundling

SERIES: Foundling

AUTHOR: Sapphire

RATING: PG13

DISCLAIMER: I would take Edward in a heartbeat, but, alas, he's not mine, neither are any of the other characters in this story.

WARNING: English is not my first language. I do my best, but there still might be some issues. Sorry about this.

THANKS: to my beta Macx

SUMMARY: 17 years ago on a cold night in Chicago Rose and Emmett find something they were not expecting – a human baby. AU

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Chapter 1: Found

17 years ago, Chicago

The night's chill had no impact on the couple slowly walking down the empty streets. Half an hour ago, it had started to snow, and now the boardwalks and streets were covered in a fine dusting of white.

Rose snuggled closer into Emmett's embrace, a happy little smile on her face. They had been to the opera, Aida, and they had decided instead of taking a taxi they would walk, at human like speed, back to the house. It would take a few hours, but they both didn't mind. They had all he time in the world.

"Thank you," she whispered too low for human ears, but Emmett had naturally no trouble hearing her.

"What for?" he asked, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"For coming with me. I know you don't like opera very much, but it was lovely. I've missed this."

"Who said I don't like opera?" he breathed in her hair. "I did like it."

Rose smiled and stopped walking. She turned around in his arms to look into his eyes.

"I distinctly remember you telling Carlisle once that you don't understand what all that screaming is about. And why they always have to go on singing while they're dying."

"Well, they do. Instead of being sensible and save their breath, they have to belt out a ten minute aria." The corners of his mouth twitched, though, and the twinkle in his eyes showed that he wasn't serious.

"Besides," he went on, his voice turning husky, "if you wear a dress like this, it doesn't really matter what's going on on the stage. I wouldn't notice. You look gorgeous."

Rose's smile widened. She had dressed to kill tonight, a low cut, body fitting, golden gown, enjoying the chance to wear something a little bit more up-scale than what she normally did.

Emmett's hand snug underneath the coat she wore and travelled along her naked spine. Excited shivers ran along her skin, his cold, marble touch felt warm and soft to her. She turned her head, finding his lips with ease.

It was a good thing that neither of them needed to breathe.

"Maybe we should get a cab after all," Emmett breathed into her golden hair once they broke their kiss.

"Yes," she whispered, her mind on their home, their room, their bed.

She would never have enough of him.

Taking his hand, she turned towards the next main street and began to walk more quickly, though not yet with super-human speed. You never knew who was looking from one of the high buildings. It was unlikely anybody would notice, but why take a chance?

Suddenly a strange, unfamiliar sound broke into their concentration - a whimper, high in pitch, followed by a weak cry.

Both stopped, trying to detect where the sound was coming from.

A second cry led them into a narrow alley between two of the tall buildings. Fire escapes wound along the house walls, almost close enough for two of them to touch. On the ground, several dumpsters littered the gap, making finding a path between them difficult. Plastic bags spilled their content next to overflowing trashcans.

"What is it?" Emmett whispered, his eyes darting around alert. The stink in the alley was almost overwhelming their sense of smell and both stopped breathing.

Rosalie worked her way between the trash moving with grace even with her high-heeled shoes.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly. "There is something familiar to it. Like I've heard this before. A long time ago. Like … before."

_Before she had been turned into a vampire._

Her brow furrowed. The whimpering and crying had stopped, and no sound could be heard from further down the alley.

No, that was not true. There was a sound. A weak, flattering thump. A pause. Then another thump.

A heartbeat.

Before Emmett could say anything, Rose dove her arms into one of the dumpsters and pulled out a bundle of fabric. With shaking fingers she peeled back part of the cloth to reveal a tiny, pale face.

Impossible large blue eyes looked at her, the tiny mouth open even though no sound came out. The baby's breathing was labored, though opening the cloth that had covered its face seemed to help a little and it sighed softly.

Without conscious thought Rose traced a finger over the baby's soft skin, down to its lips, a smile playing around her own lips. Immediately, the baby's mouth latched onto the finger and began to suck greedily.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this will not work, little one," he said softly, removing the finger carefully. The baby moved as if to work its swatted arms free, but it was wrapped too tightly and so it only could open and close its mouth again, whimpering softly.

"We need to get something to drink for him," she said, looking up at Emmett who had hovered in the background, keeping his distance to the tiny human in Rose's arms.

Emmett's face was serious. "We need to get it to a hospital. Or an orphanage."

"No!" Rose cried, holding the bundle in her arms more tightly.

Emmett made one step closer, only to find Rose pulling away, maintaining the same distance.

"We cannot keep it," he said softly.

"Why?"

Emmett kept himself from rolling his eyes only at the last second. "It is human," he said, as if this explained everything. And in a way it did.

"Nobody will miss him, Emmett. For Christ's sake, somebody left him in a _dumpster_. He was thrown away like some kind of trash." She freed one arm to gesture at the alley and the trash it was littered with.

"We don't know this. And even if, it will be better for it to be with others of its kind. Not with a bunch of vampires."

"Emmett," she said pleadingly. If she still had been human, he knew her beautiful eyes would be brimming with tears. "This is something I've wanted forever. Something I thought I had no chance to ever have. But now we are here and God, or fate, or something else, has placed this tiny creature into my arms. We can do it. We don't live off humans. He will not be in any danger from us."

She was right, of course. The baby was in no danger from them. But there were other vampires in their world and it was inevitable that sooner or later one of them would show up and then …

But then he had never been able to deny her anything.

He had always known of her wish to have children, and it had always hurt that he hadn't been able to grant her that one wish. Now she had found a baby, one that obviously wasn't wanted by anybody else. It was her dream finally come true.

"It's weak. It might not make it," he said weakly. He knew he was already beaten, but he had to try anyway. He stepped closer once again and this time Rose didn't retreat. He looked at the tiny bundle in Rose's arms and sighed.

"We better get him to Carlisle fast," he said at last.

The smile spreading over her face was all he had ever wished for.

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I do like reviews. Really!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Family

Carlisle was reading in the den. He had recently acquired an original first print copy of Goethe's Faust from 1808 and found that even though he was fluent in modern German, the original proved to be a bit of a challenge to read, despite the fact that he had once lived through that time and age. Esme, Alice and Jasper had left in the morning to hunt. He didn't expect them back before the next day. Rosaline and Emmett had gone to the opera. He was all alone in the house.

He was just working on a particular difficult passage, when he heard the front door of the house open. He looked up from his book when he heard his name being called. He placed the book down and got up from his seat.

Emmett and Rosaline stepped inside and as Carlisle turned around, he saw that Rose was holding a small bundle in her arms. A bundle from which he could clearly hear soft heartbeats and that emitted a very human smell.

"Rose?" he asked as he stepped closer.

As Rose pulled some of the fabric aside to reveal a tiny baby face, Carlisle couldn't help but notice that Emmett was hovering protectively just left of Rose's shoulder. He didn't look happy, but when he looked at the baby his features softened and a small smile played around his lips.

"They left him in a dumpster, in the cold. He would be dead by now if we hadn't found him," Rose all but pleaded, as she held the baby closer to herself.

Reserving judgment for now, he motioned her to place the baby on the table and proceeded to carefully unwrap it.

It was a boy, though he had known that from the smell alone. Small, almost too small. The umbilical cord had been cut not too long ago, a day at most. There was no bracelet like those given to newborns in a hospital, no way to identify him. He looked healthy, though a little bit undernourished, almost as if he hadn't been fed at all since his birth. He was also weak, his arms and legs barely moving.

"Emmett, please go and get some formula, he needs something to eat. And some diapers, too."

Emmett exchanged a quick look with his wife, then nodded and was gone.

He continued his examination, feeling the arms and legs, listening to his breathing, his heart. All the while Rosalie was hovering next to him, shifting from one foot to another, something she had never done to Carlisle's memory.

"Is he alright?" she finally asked.

"He's just fine. A little weak, maybe, but once we get some food into him, he will be fine."

Rose exhaled, sagging a little into herself. She took a finger and gently stroke it along the boy's arm, coming to a stop at his hand, letting him grip the finger with surprising strength for somebody so small.

"Carlisle," she began, "I … I would like to keep him. Please."

Her golden eyes turned to him, a plea shining in them.

"Of course you do," he said a smile on his face. Even though he had never regretted changing her, to save her those many years ago, he knew that she did have those regrets, that she missed being a woman, a mother.

"You know there might be somebody still out there searching for him?" he asked softly.

"He was in a dumpster, Carlisle. Like some sort of trash. Unwanted. There is nobody!"

"Maybe. Maybe not. He might have been taken from his mother against her will. We will need to look for her."

He felt that Rose wanted to protest, but he locked eyes with her and she finally nodded. He knew that as much as Rose wanted to keep the child, he also knew that she wouldn't keep it away from his rightful mother if she really wanted him.

Which, considering what Rose had told him about where she had found him, was not very likely.

And that opened a totally different can of worms.

Unlike most vampires he knew, he and his family, his coven, lived a strictly 'vegetarian' life style. They lived from animal blood, not human. But that didn't mean that there was no temptation. Some struggled more with those temptations than others. Would it be possible for everybody to live in this family with such a tasty morsel dangling every day in front of them? Did everybody want to live like that? He was particularly worried about Jasper. The Civil War veteran was struggling the most of them all. He had lived the conventional vampire life style for maybe too long and adaptation still proved difficult for him. He would regret if he should ever loose control, but by then it would be too late.

"You know there will be problems," he said, while he wrapped the baby back up. It was cold in the house – there was no real reason to heat the place when nobody living in it felt the cold.

Rose sighed then nodded. "Jasper," she said.

"It will be hard for him. He made great progress and Alice is helping with her knowing when he will get into trouble, but having a human in the house may be too much for him."

"Maybe," she said thoughtfully, "this is a chance for him. Right now, with the baby, the pull is much less than with an adult. And when he's grown up, maybe Jasper can get used to him, build up an immunity."

She was right. Even though the baby smelled undoubtedly human, the burn that was always accompanied by that smell was only a fraction of what a grown up would create. Carlisle was so used to suppress that urge that he hadn't noticed it at first.

"We will need to talk to the others first. Everybody needs to agree. Or you will need to leave. I will not risk his life. Not even to hold this family together."

Rose closed her eyes for a moment. She loved her family and to think of a life without the others was unbearable.

But then she looked again at the child and her chin came up, a determined look coming to her face.

"I would hate for this to happen, but if this is the only way I can keep him, then so be it."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Choices

Jasper smelled the human the moment he stepped into the house and immediately venom began to fill his mouth. Alice placed a hand on his arm, her calmness calming him in return.

He swallowed. Alice looked up at him, a concerned look on her face.

"Will you be all right?" she asked in a whisper.

He forced himself to smile.

"You need to ask?" he asked, knowing her answer already. She had given it to him half an hour ago while they've been driving homewards.

She returned his smile and nodded. "No, I don't need to ask. You'll be all right."

They had been hunting a good 300 miles northeast of Chicago, when Alice suddenly had a vision of Rosalie holding, surprisingly, a baby with a happy smile on her face.

As they all had made a kill and sated their thirst they immediately decided to turn around and drive home. A phone call had revealed the surprising story that Rose had found a baby and had decided to keep him if she could.

With a deep sigh, Jasper cut off his breathing, minimizing, as he hoped, the risk. The first whiff hadn't been too bad, really. Right now he wasn't thirsty and the venom had simply been a reflex, no worse than what he endured every single day he was among humans, maybe even less so.

Alice let go of his arm and danced ahead into the den where he knew the others were waiting He heard delighted squealing from his one true love, as he followed her.

Rosalie was sitting on the largest sofa in the room, one arm wrapped protectively around a small bundle. With the other hand she held a small baby bottle filled with infant formula. She was feeding the baby, contentment coming off her in large waves. Jasper couldn't remember ever feeling so much happiness coming from her.

Emmett was standing next to her, watching the baby, watching her. When he looked up, he locked eyes with Jasper, clearly communicating that if Jasper would try to take this happiness away from Rose, he would never forgive him.

Esme had greeted Carlisle, then had also moved over to Rosalie, doting on the child in her arms. She was happy, too.

Jasper closed his eyes, then took a deep breath. He had to know if he could take it, if he could stay in the same room as the baby without turning into the monster he knew he was. Suddenly, Alice was at his side again, wrapping her arms around his middle, holding him tight. Not to hold him back, but to give him all the support he needed.

The scent hit his throat and again venom began to gather in his mouth accompanied by the familiar burn, but it wasn't quite as bad as he had expected. He breathed again, and again the pain was less than he thought it would be.

He opened his eyes once more, swallowed, then nodded. "I'm fine."

The atmosphere in the room relaxed noticeably.

Carlisle cleared his throat, focusing their attention away from the baby and towards him.

"You all know that Rose wants to keep the baby. And you also know that this means we all have to make a choice."

He gestured at them and following his lead they all sat down in the various couches and chairs. Emmett sat down next to Rose, still looking warily at Jasper. Carlisle and Esme found their place on the smaller of the two sofas. Jasper settled into one of the armchairs and Alice leaped into his lap, wrapping her arm around his neck, placing a small kiss on his cheek.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered into his ear, too low for the others to hear.

"Rose," Carlisle began, "please tell the others how you found the boy."

Rose looked up from the child in her arms for the first time since Jasper had stepped into the room. With a low voice she told how she and Emmett had walked home from the opera and how they had heard the soft cries in the alley. As she told them how she had discovered the baby anger flowed off her, on how somebody could even think of casting away something as wonderful as the baby in her arms. She didn't understand how a mother could do something like this when she, who always had wanted a baby, would never be able to have one.

"I want him," she whispered. "I want to be his mother. Nobody else wants him, but I do."

Emmett put an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her gently. "I want him, too, my love. I will always be there for you. And for him."

They looked at each other and for a moment their love for each other – and for the child – was almost unbearable.

"I'm not saying that it will be easy," Carlisle now picked up the thread, "but I believe we can make it. If there ever was a coven that could make it, it's us. All of us."

He looked at Jasper, searching for an answer in his eyes.

"Can we?"

Jasper took another deep breath, tasting the air that was saturated with the human baby's scent. And found that he had no problem to control his thirst – at least for the moment.

"I believe we can," he said. "It is not as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe I can get used to it … to him.

"But," he went before the others could interrupt him. "There are other things we have to consider. Other vampires. And the Volturi."

"We can stay away from them," Emmett said. "Alice can give us a warning when they show up. This will give us enough time to disappear if we have to."

"You know my visions are no guarantees." Alice said from her place on Jasper's lap. "I can't see everything. There always will be some remaining risk.

"We will be careful," Emmett countered. "Move around more, if we have to. Get off their radar, so to speak. It will work out. It has to."

"I say we put it up to a vote," Carlisle offered.

"Rose wants the child," Emmett began, "and where I am concerned Rose gets what she wants."

Rose smiled gratefully up to Emmett.

"You know what I want," was all she said before her attention returned to the now sated baby.

"Esme?"

"I won't deny that I see problems with that boy in our future, but I think we can do it. I want to see Rose being happy. I know what she feels. I say he can stay."

Carlisle nodded then turned to Alice and Jasper.

"You think you can do it?" he asked Jasper directly.

Jasper swallowed, noticing with surprise that there was only a very small amount of venom in his mouth.

"I'm willing to give it a try," he said. "Besides, I'm afraid Emmett will rip me into tiny pieces if I'd said 'no'," he added with a grin.

"Yes!" Alice screamed, jumping up dancing around the room. "I knew it. I knew it."

"If she knew it already, why didn't she just say so from the get go?" Emmett muttered, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Would have saved us so much time."

"I guess that means we have decided," Carlisle said with a smile, his arm around Esme. "The only thing left for now is a question I have to ask Rose."

At her name, Rose looked up from the baby, a puzzled frown on her face.

"What question?"

"What name do want to give him?"

Her face lit up and she breathed a happy sigh.

"I was thinking we should call him Edward."

The end …

… and a new beginning

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is the setup for a story I'm hoping to write eventually. Basically the Twilight setup, however Edward is human and grew up with the Cullens (all vampires) since he was a baby. Please let me know if you think this would be interesting to continue.


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